Bacon Ham and Bean Soup

(I'll have to add a picture later. I ate it then put the rest in the freezer and forgot to take a picture.)

I'm not as big of a purist as I might lead you to believe. When I make Ham and Bean soup I use jarred beans. I have done the "soak the beans" thing and it is good and not hard to do, just time consuming. The local grocery store here, "Wood's Supermarket", carries the Randall brand of Great Northern Beans. They are good and fast and easy.


First I brown some bacon. Use as much or as little as you like. With Ron in the house I have gotten used to using a lot of bacon in a lot of recipes. In this soup though, I only use 6-8 slices, or equivalent. (I buy 5 pound boxes of ends and pieces)Chop up the slices and brown in a large skillet or the pot you will make the soup in. We are after the bacon flavor and the fat to brown a few more things in.

Next, chop an onion. Here again use as much or as little as you want. Or none at all if you don't like onion. Sometimes I shred a carrot at this point and brown it too. Potatoes are good diced small and thrown in. I had a Parsnip left from something else one time and used it too. (This is soup, not rocket science)The key here is to begin the cooking process by browning the meat and veggies to give them some color and flavor.

Now that all the veggies are browned add some ham. We usually have some diced ham in the refrigerator or have some that can be diced. Throw in as much as you want or have or need. (If I have a ham bone I use that too.)

OK, so we have some bacon, some ham and some veggies. Time to add the beans and broth to the pot. The beans I use have some liquid with them but not much. Chicken broth works well for this or vegetable broth. Chicken broth is just always in my pantry. Use one approximately 15 ounce can of broth for this. You can use more if you like a thinner soup. I use the least amount of liquid cause I like a fuller soup, less liquid more stuff.

Now the really hard part, waiting. All of this should be in a soup pot. Set this on a burner on the stove on low heat and let it cook for several hours. It should not boil, just barely simmer, if that. Stir it every now and again and smell. If you want to add a bay leaf by all means do. The ham usually has enough salt. Add some pepper if that suits you. I don't add too many seasonings because there are enough things in there already that I want to taste. Sometimes a lot of seasonings can hide the good stuff if you use too much.

After about 3 to 5 hours, eat! By this time I have usually made something to go with it, cornbread, white bread, wheat bread, biscuits,... whatever strikes my fancy. (more of those recipes to come)